Question: Safely removing adhesive residue, before coating

Ike21

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Hey All,

So, I've slowly been working on decontaminating, compounding and polishing my 2014 Accord for the past week, and have finally gotten to the point of surface prep for PBL DSC application! She looks fantastic polished!



Unfortunately, I'm a bit stuck now, and don't know how to best proceed...

I taped the car using a combination of green frog-tape and 3m automotive masking tape. You can see the car still partially taped in the previous photo. Both have left a significant amount of adhesive behind on most surfaces, most especially the frog tape. During polishing around the frog tape, the "edge lock" adhesive rim was partially removed and spread around with the polish, causing clumps of adhesive to form (the polish still did a fine job however...). These clumps would occasionally latch on to a microfiber, and thusly spread on the car's surface during the initial polish wipe-down, so I had to work especially clean, using a clean portion of a microfiber with every wipe close to taped areas. Still have some smears of adhesive in random places on the car.

So, in preparation for PBL surface cleansing polish, I wanted to pre-remove as much of the adhesive residue as possible, to avoid loading down the applicator pad and/or spreading the adhesive around. I also don't want to "work backwards" as Mike Phillips reiterates in his articles, by dulling the polished surface via chemical micro-etching. I have almost no experience here, but I would imagine that most chemicals will not significantly dull the polished surface.

So far, I've tried:
1) 10% IPA- did not remove much
2) Meg's quick detailer- removed some residue, but extremely slowly
3) NanoSkin Glide- removed a bit less than the meg's
4) Detailer's Cleanse- Worked well, dissolved the residue without a problem... Uses a lot to make it happen, as the adhesive residue seems to eventually become concentrated enough to stay behind on the panel, creating a large, dull adhesive mess.
5) Glide and Meg's detailer added to a 10% IPA solution... didn't work terribly well... a chemist, I am not :).

I also have practically all household cleaning products on hand, as well as tar removers (such as Stoner tarminator).

So, what would be the best chemical, or multiple chemicals, for accomplishing the adhesive removal without a) risk of inducing scratches from lack of lubricity, and b) dulling?
I'm dealing with pretty much all surfaces of the car (plastic trim, lights, aluminum trim, rubber molding, paint, etc.).
Would Detailer's Cleanse be best for the task? I'm a bit apprehensive about inducing scratches, and/or dulling the finish with it. Also, I'm apprehensive about damaging the split fibers in my high quality micro. cloths by using strong chemicals... would Cleanse be a bit on the harsh side for micros?


Thanks!
Mike
 
Frog tape is Evil stuff

Any painters tape with "special adhesive" is a bad idea for polishing

Stick with 3M 233+ (green)
 
Steam clean....best way

Genius! I'm gonna break out the old Scucci... Let's hope it still works after 4 years of sitting in the closet! Might get some de-scaler first...

And yes, it's evil stuff. I'm sicking with 3m from now on (no pun intended). :)
 
I prefer this tape

You can also try sticking it against your shirt or pants a few times to remove some of the adhesive before applying it on the car to lessen it.
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkrn10i969g]The Benefits of using 3M Scotch 233+ - YouTube[/video]

7 minute video on masking tape...yes
 
I love Frog tape! For painting, that is. We did a home reno 3 years ago and I painted almost the entire house using Frog tape. Worked as advertised. No paint bleed, resulting in straight lines. It's got some sort of polymer that interacts with paint to form a barrier.

I've never used it for detailing for the simple reason that it costs so much more than regular masking tape, and I don't need straight lines when polishing. All that's required is to protect the covered areas.

I would assume the same chemicals that react to paint would react with the oils in compounds and polishes to form some kind of gunk all over the place.
 
Tape is just evil.

I have struggled with this - especially on a black car. There is an easy solution - a little mineral spirits on a towel. This will remove the tape residue easily. Mineral spirits will flash off - leaving the surface coating ready. You want the real odorless mineral spirits (clear) - not the leftist commie PETA approved white junk.
 
Tape is just evil.

I have struggled with this - especially on a black car. There is an easy solution - a little mineral spirits on a towel. This will remove the tape residue easily. Mineral spirits will flash off - leaving the surface coating ready. You want the real odorless mineral spirits (clear) - not the leftist commie PETA approved white junk.

I love the commentary, LOL!

As far as the mineral spirits goes, I'm a bit hesitant... Don't want to screw up anything if I accidentially lose focus, and hit some trim/plastic/molding without noticing. Also, does it de-gloss or soften clear coat at all?
 
Frog tape is Evil stuff

Any painters tape with "special adhesive" is a bad idea for polishing

Stick with 3M 233+ (green)

Lucky me I sell 3M so I get the stuff for free! Just got a box of it in today!!
 
Goo Gone or nail polish remover( acetone), it won't hurt the finish, alcohol won't break down adhesives.
 
Tape is just evil.

I have struggled with this - especially on a black car. There is an easy solution - a little mineral spirits on a towel. This will remove the tape residue easily. Mineral spirits will flash off - leaving the surface coating ready. You want the real odorless mineral spirits (clear) - not the leftist commie PETA approved white junk.
Quoted for truth! Works well for sap that's been on the car for a while, too.
 
I love the commentary, LOL!

As far as the mineral spirits goes, I'm a bit hesitant... Don't want to screw up anything if I accidentially lose focus, and hit some trim/plastic/molding without noticing. Also, does it de-gloss or soften clear coat at all?

Mineral spirits won't hurt factory paint if used sparingly/correctly. Your just going to dampen a corner of a MF towel with it and then gently buff away the tape line. You may want to wipe away any smears with IPA or Eraser after that.

Other products like adhesive remover or Goo Gone may leave something behind that interferes with a coating. IPA and MS won't.
 
get panel wipe. also called prep solvent. it's meant to be used to prep surfaces prior to paint, so don't worry about it interfering with coating or anything. it's also generally considered to be plastic and trim safe, though, i don't let it dwell in any capacity on those surfaces.

i use Maxx Solv. i used to use Klean Strip Prep-All but i couldn't find it so i went to a paint and body supply shop and bought a gallon of Maxx Solv. it's fantastic.
 
Mineral spirits won't hurt factory paint if used sparingly/correctly. Your just going to dampen a corner of a MF towel with it and then gently buff away the tape line. You may want to wipe away any smears with IPA or Eraser after that.

Other products like adhesive remover or Goo Gone may leave something behind that interferes with a coating. IPA and MS won't.

Good deal, I think MS might be a viable and quick-er route than steam cleaning, at least for the paint. I may still steam clean crevices, where adhesive gunk has gotten balled up, fallen in, and lodged in place (mostly thin gaps such as with the spoiler lip/trunk lid interface), and perhaps go with a safer chemical (one that's more compatible) with synthetics for the areas of plastic trim and synthetic rubber molding that have residue remaining.

Ironically, I used that same 3m tape in many areas, just didn't have enough for the entire car... so without really researching it, I grabbed the next highest quality masking tape on hand... the frog tape. The 3m did leave behind a bit of residue, and lifted edges did transfer some to a passing MF as with the frog tape, but not nearly as much. Overall, a much better tape! 3m has a fantastic adhesive engineering firm... never fails to impress me.

Just picked up some more 3m tape at auto-zone today for future work. Sometimes we learn the hard way, right? :buffing:
 
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